1.0. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to taxicabs and, more particularly, to a system on board a taxicab that allows a passenger to charge the fare to his/her account handled by a remotely located financial institution.
2.0. Description of Related Art
Taxicabs carry passengers for a fare usually measured by the distance traveled and are an increasingly popular mode of transportation, finding particular use in cities. The passengers using the taxicabs frequently carry a limited amount of ready cash relying on the use of credit or debit type cards to pay for expenses incurred. It is desired that a system be provided for credit card acceptance in the taxicabs.
The passengers using the taxicabs are commonly unfamiliar with the area in which the taxicabs are being driven. The drivers of the taxicabs, although familiar with the crowded cities, are commonly subjected to a relatively high level of stress. The intermingling of the passengers and the drivers within the confines of the taxicabs sometimes leads to a hostile environment which, in turn, sometimes leads to a dispute on the amount of the fare being charged by the driver. It is desired that means be provided for the use of credit cards for fare payment, but only after the amount of the fare is mutually agreed to by both the passenger and the driver of the taxicab.
The passengers of the taxicabs are commonly in a hurry to accomplish a desired task and sometimes leave articles of personal belongings in the taxicab. The passenger in an attempt to reclaim his lost personal articles commonly remembers the fleet name of the taxicabs, but hardly ever remembers the individual taxicab in which his/her personal articles were left. It is desired that the fleet owner be provided with means to easily reclaim the lost goods of the passenger so as to allow them to be quickly returned to the correct owner.
Because the taxicabs, as well as the fleet owners, serve an important public function, they are governed by regulations controlled by different governmental agencies. It is desired that a system be provided that allows for the fleet owners, as well as the different government agencies, to provide control governing the business aspects and conduct of the individual drivers of the taxicabs.
The invention is directed to an on board system with a wireless modem for a taxicab that allows a passenger to charge his fare to a remotely located charge account and also provides bilateral communication of messages concerned with the successful business of carrying passengers.
The system of the present invention is used on board a taxicab that allows for credit card acceptance, wherein the amount of fare being charged to the passenger is agreed to by both the passenger and the driver of the taxicab. The system provides the fleet owner with means to easily retrieve goods lost by the passengers of the taxicabs of the fleet owners. The system also allows both the fleet owner and the associated government agency to control the business aspects and conduct of the individual drivers of the taxicabs.
The system comprises a meter having computational capabilities, a card reader and a modem. The meter displays the fare being charged to a passenger, normally by distance, number of passengers and bags, has a plurality of ports and is responsive to application programs, at least some of which mandate a sequential exchange of information between the passenger and the driver before the fare is charged to the passenger. The card reader is connected to some of the ports of the meter and is operable therewith for reading information stored on a card (usually in magnetic strips or chips) that is releasably engageable with the card reader. The information stored on the card identifies a charge account. The modem provides wireless communications and has an input and an output, with the input thereof connected to some of the ports of the meter and the output thereof connected to an antenna.